


The Princess Games

by silveradept



Category: Disney Princesses, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 14:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16042793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: For the 30th Hunger Games, all the prettiest girls in the Districts were reaped. But prettiest doesn't mean least intelligent, least strong, or least crafty. There's a plan (or two) afoot to try and get as many of them out alive, and embarrass the Capitol as much as possible while they're at it.





	1. The Preparations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MiraMira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMira/gifts).



> On this, the thirtieth remembrance of the rebellion of the Districts, in tribute to all the families torn apart by the rebels, all tributes for the Hunger Games shall be women of childbearing age.

The Reaping had gone as planned, including the subtle influencing of the slips in the bowls to favor the most beautiful women in each District. Not only would they be losing the fairest in each of their lands, the entire country would see that beauty would willingly turn to quite ugly methods when survival was on the line.

The media had latched on to the idea wonderfully, and were playing up the impending terror of so many beautiful young women about to have their lives cut tragically short. It had taken some careful editing when it turned out one had stage fright so terribly that she became functionally Avox, but it hadn't detracted too much from the narrative. There were even a few places that thought it made her more beautiful for not speaking.

The arena had been prepped, and the candidates were ready to begin. The countdown went flawlessly. A false start would have been a disaster and a waste of publicity.

When only three tributes sprinted off their platforms for the Cornucopia, all of them from Career Districts, the Gamemaker was immediately suspicious. The audience watched in shock as three of the favorites seized the weapons they had trained to use on the other tributes, and began to scream and flail about. Tracker Jacker venom could make someone see their worst nightmares come to life, and the Careers did the killing they were supposed to do, but on each other instead of the rest of the tributes. Three cannon blasts later, and a different group of tributes started singing as they advanced upon the Cornucopia.

The Gamemaker recognized the tune far too late.

"Cut the feeds! Immediately!"

The Gamemaker had to retain control, despite the increasingly obvious fact that the Games had been sabotaged. The easiest thing would be to kill them all now and declare the whole thing a plot by a treasonous element. The President would be unhappy, and the Gamemaker would likely die, but it would be better than allowing the broadcast of open rebellion.

At least there was time to figure out how to deal with the situation.

And then the feeds came back. The Gamemaker had not ordered that, which meant the broadcast was out of control.

The President would not be pleased. Which meant the Gamemaker would not be alive for much longer, unless a solution could be found, and quickly.

"Get me control of those feeds."

The Gamemaker called up the plans for the arena. Thinking time was at a premium, and the President would want results. Springing a few of the planned surprises early might make the difference between life and death.


	2. The Many-Headed Test

"I've got the feeds!" Belle said triumphantly, looking at her screen and not really appearing to care about the nest of wires, clips, and splices she'd built for herself while trying to get that control.

Tiana smiled. So far, the plan had worked perfectly. The Careers they hadn't been able to convince were out of the way, the other tributes were relieved that nobody was going to start killing them (or the other way around) any time soon, and now they had the attention of the entire country.

"I think it's time we reintroduced ourselves," she said. "Where's a camera that will give us a good angle?"

"They're everywhere, really," Belle said, laughing. "Find a spot and start talking. They'll do the rest."

Tiana surveyed the space around her. Flat, featureless plain stretched out in front of her. There wasn't even a hill anywhere nearby to get a little higher up. Well, no matter. They could do a walk-and-talk.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, you could have been anywhere else in the world tonight (if you had the freedom to make choices, that is) but you're here in the Arena with us. Are you ready for the Thirtieth Annual Hunger Games?"

Tiana paused to sweep her hand over the expanse as if there were something interesting behind her.

"I'm Tiana, tribute from District 11, your emcee and host for these next few days. Keeping the feeds live and fresh is a technical wizard, Belle, one of the smartest women you will meet inside District 3."

Belle gave a half wave and went back to clacking keys on her computer.

"Now, all of you were told a story about how all of the women chosen for this year's games were the prettiest in their districts. But y'all know what? There's some other reasons we got Reaped, and they don't have much to do with how pretty we are. Take me, for example. D-11 is one of the poorest, blackest districts of Panem, even though we feed all the rest of you everything but your morning gruel. I was hoping to open a restaurant in the District to show you all what kind of things you can do with food, but everybody told me ain't nobody wants to go to a restaurant headed by a black woman. They'll eat my cooking, sure, but they don't want to pay for it."

Tiana threw an arm around a similarly brown girl who gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Esmé here is also from Snake Eyes and got hand-picked by the Head Peacekeeper himself after she told him that she wasn't going to be his side piece. There's something creepy and wrong about going after a sixteen year-old girl when you're well into your forties. But better to blame her and send her to her death than admit you might have a problem, am I right?"

Tiana hugged Esmé again and continued on her stroll around the space.

"Here's something you don't see every day," she said, offering a hand to the Asian girl holding herself stiffly and warily, one hand on the sword she wore belted to her side that she'd scavenged from the Cornucopia, scanning the horizon for threats like a Peacekeeper. "Mulan is one of Panem's Finest, training to be a Peacekeeper so she can help the President more efficiently oppress the rest of us. Most of the time, though, we can expect the Careers to do the dirty work of killing everyone else off so they can fight for glory. What changed your mind?"

Mulan shook Tiana's hand formally and kept her eyes peeled for danger.

"The Peacekeepers felt I dishonored them by being interested romantically in both the men and the women of my training cohort. They told me in no uncertain terms to volunteer for these Games if I wanted to remain in their company and clear my name of the shame I had brought to my family."

"And by that, you mean they wouldn't kill your family or ship them to another District over your decision to be honest about who you love."

Mulan hesitated for a moment before giving her reply.

"Yes."

Tiana rested a comforting hand on Mulan's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said, without any trace of her previous bombast. "You shouldn't have had to do this to protect your family. Maybe one day, in a brighter future, you can be with who you want to be."

"Thank you," Mulan said, resting her head temporarily on Tiana's hand. "Go on. I'll keep watch."

Tiana nodded, and resumed her walk.

"Arranged marriages and rejected suitors are a pretty common element among our Tributes this year. Pocahontas, from the Nine, Cinderella from the Sixth, and Aurora from D-8 all got promised to someone who was supposed to be their Prince, but turned out to be not much more than a rat. Each one of these fabulous women could have made a name for themselves with the talents they have in farming, building, and weaving, but they were all expected to give up their dreams and get to making babies. 'A woman's place is in the home,' they tell us, and they expect us to be okay with that."

A loud rumble from off in the distance interrupted Tiana. The ground began to shake, and all the women braced themselves against what was about to happen. When the shaking stopped, the featureless plain had been replaced - now they, and the Cornucopia, were supposed to be a grassy clearing in the middle of a dense forest.

"Oooh. It looks like the Gamemakers have decided to start giving us some challenges." Tiana cut her loop short and retreated to the Coruncopia, where several of the other tributes were busily arming themselves against what was sure to be very dangerous. A cannon shot interrupted their preparations for a moment.

"Damn," Tiana said, with much less swagger than before. "This is what happens when you don't stick together. I hope that poor girl died quickly. Any intelligence on what it is, Belle?"

"Not yet. I'm trying, though." Belle's fingers alternated between tapping keys and switching clamps on the various cables around her nest.

Before long, several creatures came crashing through the edge of the forest. Each of them was roughly the size of a large dog, and could have been mistaken for one, were it not for their three heads. They stopped, looking at the tributes, before baring their teeth and growling menacingly. Tiana noticed some of them looked like they'd just been feasting on something. Or someone.

"Mutts!" Tiana yelled. "Any ideas, Merida? Jasmine? You're the Tens, so this is your expertise, right?"

"Oh, aye, I know what to do with these beasties!" Merida called from the top of the Cornucopia, where she had been very busy setting up a sniper's nest. The enthusiasm in Merida's brogue gave Tiana confidence. Merida had refused to marry and have children, despite being the daughter of the Mayor of District Ten, and had said she was going to spend her life having adventures instead of being tied to the kitchen. Tiana could see the appeal.

Jasmine had a similar story - daughter of a powerful Capitol liason to District Ten, but didn't want any of the pompous boys that had charmed her father with their wealth and manners. If she was going to marry, she was going to choose the worthy man. She'd probably have all sorts of marriage proposals waiting if she made it out alive.

Tiana watched as an arrow sped from the top of the horn and drove through the head of one of the mutts all the way up to the fletching. The mutt died swiftly after.

"Stick 'em!" Merida whooped, loosing another arrow with similar lethal results. The mutts took it as a signal to change the remaining tributes. Tiana gripped her knife and stayed close to Belle. She needed Belle to stay alive and keep broadcasting. It would give the Districts the incentive they needed to fight back as well.

Jasmine and Mulan kept their swords ready as they moved to the front of the Cornucopia, helping form a wall to protect the less combat-focused tributes, while Merida continued to thin the numbers of the mutts trying to get to them with shot after shot from her longbow.

"Ready for this, Jasmine, Mulan?" said Moana, one of the District Four girls, hefting her spear with the ease of someone well-practiced in its use.

Mulan nodded. Jasmine smiled. And all three stabbed the first mutt brave enough to get within their reach. Almost as soon as it had begun, the fight with the mutts was over, and it looked like none of the tributes had been hurt.

Tiana let out a breath of relief.

"We're not done yet!" Merida shouted. "And I dinnae think I can help as much this time!"

Tiana's heart sank as a giant version of the three-headed mutt strode out from the trees.

"We can do this," she said, clutching her knife firmly.

A silent agreement passed between the three guardians, and they charged the beast, trying to separate the heads as much as possible so they couldn't help each other. Of course, neither could the fighters.

It was clear after a short time that all three women were capable fighters, but they couldn't do much more than scratch and annoy the mutt without putting themselves in serious danger. Tiana racked her brain for a solution. Strategy and tactics had carried them this far, but improvisation wasn't one of the things she did all that well. There had to be a weakness somewhere that she could exploit.

Tiana barely had time to recognize what was happening when a streak of red hair flashed past her and started charging the melee. Before she could call out a warning, Ariel was drawing the attention of a couple heads to herself, before Mulan and Moana reminded them of who they were supposed to be paying attention to by trying to stick each head in an eye.

A short while later , all three heads howled in pain and Tiana saw Ariel, a look of fierce determination on her face, pulling her trident out of the chest of the beast before stabbing it back in again. The other three took advantage of Ariel's work to stab and slash the heads repeatedly until they bled signficantly themselves. With a final groan, the beast listed to one side and toppled over, bleeding out the remainder of its life fairly quickly.

Ariel stood on the grass, in the middle of a pool of blood, some of it still on her trident and some more in her hair. Seeing everyone staring at her, some of them with their jaws open, she clutched the trident and gave a tiny, shy wave to the other tributes.

"Oh, _please_ tell me you got that on camera," Tiana said to Belle.

Belle gave her a thumbs-up.

"Oh, yes. Ariel is going to have quite the fandom. In a different year, she'd be getting all the sponsors right now," Belle said.

A cheer went up from the tributes, who started to rush out with bandages and the first-aid supplies that they'd collected from the crates in the Cornucopia. Once everyone was patched up, thoughts turned to food and other crates were opened and supplies distributed to make sure everyone had a meal. Everyone settled in to watch the display of the first day's fallen tributes, and a guard was set while others slept.

Mulan and Merida both noticed the group of three tributes moving toward them, arms raised in gestures of surrender.

"Hello in the camp," the lead tribute shouted. "We'd like to talk to you."

"For what reason?" Mulan retorted.

"We'd like to propose an alliance," she replied.

Tiana did not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night, but the possibility of having more tributes on their side was worth going out for a talk.

Belle frowned as she looked at the feeds. "We're not broadcasting," she told Tiana. "I'm pretty sure it's not the Gamemakers."

"We're jamming the signal. Temporarily," said the leader of the new group. "We wanted to talk off the record. We have information that we think you will want to hear."

"I'm listening," Tiana said.

"We represent the White Rabbit Alliance. I'm Kida. This is Alice, and here is Meg. The reason we're jamming your signal is because we don't want the Gamemakers to know that we're, well..."

"...we're from District 13." Meg said bluntly. "It still exists, underneath the ground. The Capitol doesn't acknowledge us, and we officially don't interfere with them."

"There is an extraction team on their way from 13 to the arena to get us all out alive, but it's going to take some time to rig everything so we can disappear without the Capitol coming after us," Kida said. "If you can keep the attention on yourselves until it's time to go, we'll get you all out and off to District 13 safely. No need for killing, just survival."

"How can we trust you?"

"We'll leave one of our jammers with you, so that you can have private conversations they can't hear or see," Alice said, pulling a small white rabbit out of one of her pockets. "Ask Snow White about us. She'll tell you what you need to know."

Belle grabbed the rabbit and immediately set to work on it, examining it to make sure that it didn't have any additional features or parts that would make it more suspect.

"Sunrise will be here before all of us want it to be," Kida said. "We need sleep, too, so that we can continue our own work. May the odds be ever in your favor."

The three departed back toward the jungle.

Tiana wasn't completely sure what to make of the encounter. District 13, still around? And Snow White knowing something about this? She was a coal girl from 12 who had stayed with seven men that took her in. She was the least likely person to know anything at all. Which made her the perfect person to know a lot more than she let on, Tiana realized. If Belle gave her the all clear about the white rabbit, then she would find a way to have a private conversation with Snow White.


	3. Round Two

Dawn came early to the Arena. The Gamemaker, rested and with a cup of coffee in hand, sat down at the console.

The tributes had managed to best the Kerberos. That was a setback, but Kerberos was not the only trick available to deal with the unruly. The President was still unhappy, but was willing to give them all the opportunity to correct their mistakes. And, if the Gamemaker was being honest, the ratings and the viewings for thie year's Games were much better than they had been in the past. The tribute alliance could be strung along for a little while longer before they were crushed and the normal order of the Games reasserted itself. Let the Districts have a little hope, to get them involved, and then take away everyone's hope in a decisive blow.

The Gamemaker pulled up a list of the remaining things to do with the arena and scrolled until the perfect option presented itself. Selecting that option, the Gamemaker settled in to watch.

"And now, we begin round two."


End file.
